Ilemela digitises revenue collection drive

MWANZA: ILEMELA Municipality is expanding digital revenue collection to plug collection gaps, improve monitoring and strengthen accountability, with new property tax and parking fee systems expected to increase funds available for public services and development projects.

The move involves the implementation of the new property tax payment system, known as NaPA, alongside a digital parking fee payment module, officials said during a capacitybuilding training for ward and local government officials.

The systems are expected to improve the identification and registration of buildings, facilitate collection of property taxes and enable the Municipality to better monitor revenue generated from its various sources.

Opening the training yesterday, Ilemela Municipal Director, Ms Ummy Wayayu said the initiative would also strengthen supervision of revenue collection agents working on behalf of the Municipality.

She said some revenue collection activities were conducted through agents, making effective monitoring and supervision important to ensure that all revenues collected were properly accounted for.

“After this training, we will go to work on this system to ensure that revenues are collected, fulfill your duties and there is no one to have any reason because you have all the materials and tools,” Ms Wayayu said.

She urged ward and local officials to work closely with revenue collection agents and ensure the systems were properly used in their respective areas.

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The digital platforms, she said, would strengthen revenue management, improve transparency and provide the Municipality with better information for monitoring collections.

“This will help simplify the revenue collection exercise,” she said.

The shift is also expected to address some of the challenges previously experienced in identifying and registering buildings, particularly those liable for property taxes.

Igalagala District Executive Mr Sadick Haruna said the training would improve officials’ ability to perform their daily responsibilities while making revenue collection more efficient.

He said the new system was expected to address challenges in identifying buildings and registering them for property tax purposes, which had affected the effectiveness of revenue collection.

The digitalisation of property tax and parking fee payments forms part of broader efforts by local authorities to strengthen domestic revenue mobilisation through technology